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Houston Astros Starting Pitcher Set For Major Step in Injury Recovery

Lance McCullers Jr., who missed all of the 2023 and 2024 seasons with injury, is nearing a major step in his return for the reigning American League West champions.

Brady Farkas

Houston Astros starting pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. (43) before the game against the New York Yankees during game four of the ALCS for the 2022 MLB Playoffs at Yankee Stadium.
Houston Astros starting pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. (43) before the game against the New York Yankees during game four of the ALCS for the 2022 MLB Playoffs at Yankee Stadium. / Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images
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Houston Astros starting pitcher Lance McCullers Jr., who missed all of the 2023 and 2024 seasons with injury, is nearing a major step in his return for the reigning American League West champions.

Per Brian McTaggart of MLB.com on social media:

Also, Lance McCullers Jr. and Luis Garcia will throw bullpen side session today, probably in the batting cages becaus of rain. If all goes well for Lance, his next task would be live batting practice and facing hitters.

Lifetime, McCullers is 49-32 with a 3.48 ERA. He's been an excellent pitcher for Houston in his career, helping them win the World Series in both 2017 and 2022, however injuries have been a real problem.

In addition to missing 2023 and 2024, he also missed most of 2022 and all of 2019.

Now 31 years old, McCullers could be a major boon to the Astros rotation, but given his health issues, nothing from him can be fully counted on. Framber Valdez, Hunter Brown, Spencer Arrighetti, Ronel Blanco and Hayden Wesneski are starting rotation candidates at the beginning of the year. Garcia and Cristian Javier are working back from arm injuries of their own.

The Astros won the American League West again in 2024 but were swept in the American League wild card series by the Detroit Tigers. Houston has lost Alex Bregman, Kyle Tucker and Justin Verlander this offseason, but they still figure to be very competitive in the division.

They've added Isaac Paredes and former Gold Glover Brendan Rodgers.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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